


and this distance is starting to feel like a funeral

by thissupposedcrime



Category: Dangan Ronpa, Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Dangan Ronpa: Another Episode
Genre: Canonical Character Death, F/M, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-11
Updated: 2016-09-11
Packaged: 2018-08-14 08:48:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,566
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8006317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thissupposedcrime/pseuds/thissupposedcrime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He leaps at every overtime opportunity, travels to remote corners of the world to preach about hope, and desperately tries to forget that his pillowcases back home smell like Kirigiri’s detergent. </p><p>Makoto mourns while the Future Foundation pieces itself (and him) back together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	and this distance is starting to feel like a funeral

**Author's Note:**

> I woke up, highly emotional over her death, and wanted to write something before the next episode. So uh, here it is, unbeta-ed and frantically scribbled over the course of a day. 
> 
> Title comes from deb-acle.tumblr.com

 

_If someone I care about dies, I don’t move on, I carry it with me, forever. It’s who I am._

* * *

 

Considering a building collapsed on top of him earlier that evening, Togami is remarkably composed, commanding a mass of 14th Division members shifting through the rubble. He lingers outside the broken entrance of the building, close enough to watch his men but out of the way as they work. The bloody scrapes etched across his forehead or the broken left shoulder were inconsequential compared to the turmoil of Asahina, debris still in her hair, clinging onto Hagakure, both huddled on the ground and loudly sobbing about Kirigiri.

Munakata and Mitarai were mute in comparison. The former vice-chairman hadn’t spoken in the hour since the four crawled out of hell through a small crack in the floor, not even a grunt of pain as medical attendees replace his bandages or continue the process of sewing up the gaping holes in his body. Togami hopes the wounds sting and scar horribly, thinks of the jagged shading Asahina mentioned creeping across Kirigiri’s pale complexion. 

Unsurprisingly useless and wrapped in a shock blanket, Mitarai slumped against a rock nearby, empty eyes blankly looking to the sky. They manage to keep an acolyte of Junko Enoshima alive, Togami muses, again. If someone speaks sympathetically about the impact of _brainwashing_ or intentions or, god forbid, _anime_ , he personally vows on his family legacy that hell won’t accommodate his wrath.

Rage will come. A tempest will come. Soon.

Right now, however, his temper stays in check in favor of concern, prompted from watching Naegi working to clear a larger path to the sublevel of the building, too stubborn to rest.

For a millisecond, every time Makoto winces as rock damages his hands or he grabs at his ribs with a grimace, Togami is tempted to shout at him, remind Naegi that he _has_ to listen to him, to go seek medical attention and stay outside with Asahina, but that’s what holds his tongue.

Neither of them wanted Togami to be his boss, not like this, not when Kirigiri’s firm leadership and temperament must now begin to creep out from memory.

A snort. That’s a foolish belief. Kirigiri’s legacy will never be lost, not while he breathes and remembers how her eyes would drift to his in mutual derision when staff meetings ran late, the times he found her asleep at her desk despite Naegi’s attempts to ease her workload, or how efficiently she ran them all when Naegi’s plot to abscond with the Remnants of Despair was revealed.

Another grunt of pain escapes Naegi, forcing Togami to bark out, “Naegi, come over here.”

Shaking out his right hand, likely the source of his latest injury, Naegi comes outside, carefully sidestepping mounds of broken concrete and sheetrock, and fighting a frown as Hagakure begins a new wave of tears.

“Take a break. You can’t do much in your condition.” Condition is putting it kindly. Continuing emotional and physical turmoil the likes of which you’ve never known is more accurate. He looks awful, eyes shadowed and red rimmed, posture slumped, and skin mottled with bruises.

Asahina nods in agreement and gestures him over.

Naegi forces a smile for a moment, but turns to walk towards the building again, stating, “Thanks, but I feel fine. I need to help out. It’s my fault anyway.” Togami doesn’t know where to begin in confronting that statement, and Asahina and Hagakure both still next to him.

With his back to them and a noticeable quiver in his shoulders, Naegi whispers, in the softest voice Togami’s ever heard, “It’s so dark and cold down there. I want to bring her home.”

Stunned, Togami lets him go, while Asahina begins shaking.  She soon gets up, dragging the teary psychic with her.

Byakuya Togami has never been one for platitudes, but as he watches his friends help Naegi work, he remembers the childish idea that ‘home is where the heart is’ and privately worries what the hope of the world will do now that his belongs to the earth.

* * *

It takes the Future Foundation two days after the Final Killing Game to contact Toko and Komaru in Towa City. By ‘contact’ Toko means the morons in charge had the fantastic idea to send out a body battered and heart bruised Makoto Naegi with the Psychic Idiot to guide him around until they miraculously stumbled across her and Komaru. Fool proof plan really.

She’s glad to see them, honestly. This waiting game has made her anxious, constantly looking to the phone and pacing in hotel rooms. Komaru claims she’s kicking in her sleep and grows more concerned by the night. Communication lines have been down and the Future Foundation is scrambling to adjust the new directors to their roles, but Toko doesn’t care for excuses. One of her friends might be dead, and they haven’t told her anything. Her one consolation is that her connection to Master would have let her know of his death. Komaru, so much her brother’s sister, clutches her in the worst moments and holds her hand, tells her they all could have lived.

Yet one look at Makoto Naegi kills that dream. Even with an ecstatic Komaru in his arms and how desperately they cling to each other, he can’t shake the grief from his face, from his dim eyes or the ineffective sliver of a grin he tries to form whenever Komaru isn’t looking at him.

“It was Kirigiri, wasn’t it?” She feels faint, and a tight feeling is spooling thread around her lungs, constructing her ability to breathe. Later on, she’ll bitterly hate hope and be held by Komaru, mourning all those foolish minutes Toko actually believed everyone could survive.

In the present though, it is a calm acceptance, as calm as she can be with her hearing going fuzzy and how she keeps blinking away bright spots in her eyes, despite the twilight of the sky. She wants to scream and scream and scream but she’s calm, so calm. The two men in front of her are obvious alive (the psychic is too stupid to die, she once told Komaru), and Master is as well; there’s no other option. Asahina could be dead, but she was athletic and with Makoto during the game, and lacked Kirigiri’s crippling fondness for taking risks (and for Makoto). Besides, Kyoko Kirigiri ~~is~~ (was) the only force of nature Makoto loved enough to diminish his long awaited reunion with Komaru.

In a rare show of constraint, Hagakure gently places his hand on her shoulder and squeezes.

“How?” Toko whispers, careful not to let either Naegi hear her.

Makoto somehow does, clutching Komaru harder and telling Toko, without hesitation or question, “I killed her.” The firmness of his statement terrifies her.

Beside her Yasuhiro grimaces and swallows, “So, uh, they had these bracelets on, kind of like the ones all the captives had here in Towa, with forbidden actions they’d die for breaking. Her’s was letting him live so long in the game.”

“Then that Monaca brat was wrong,” Toko muttered, staring at Makoto, looking away from her and at Komaru again.

“Huh?”

Toko ignores Hagakure’s question as the two siblings detangle from each other and walk over. She’ll talk to him privately soon.

Komaru and Toko are temporarily evacuated out of Towa City for the funerals. They normally protest having to leave, even if it’s just to venture slightly out of town for supplies, but Komaru can tell how heartbroken her brother is, because he is such an awful liar, and Toko, besides saying goodbye, wants to see the damage for herself.

* * *

Mom always praised him for his looks and his wit but occasionally she’d throw an arm around his shoulders and whisper against his head, “Carefully with your money and your mouth baby. One day they’re gonna get you in trouble.”

Standing in a graveyard with Naegi, Yasuhiro wishes he brought her with them rather than waiting to visit upon returning Naegi’s sister and Fukawa. Maybe she’d tell him the words to use here and now.

Cause he sure as hell doesn’t know what to say.

The funeral’s been over for an hour and he’s not sure if it’s a good or bad thing, but the day is clear and bright.  He and Naegi are the only two left. Togami ran back to a meeting as soon as the proceedings ended. Asahina rallied the troops of workers who lingered, and they’re out doing paperwork in Kirigiri’s name while she runs around cleaning the office and keeping everyone busy. Naegi’s sister, he thinks Mom calls her Koko, was towed away by Fukawa to talk with someone in the 6th division about Monaca Towa. Before she left, while the Naegis hugged, Fukawa stared him down and made cutting scissor motions with her fingers.

He kinda feels like he needs to check the locks on his doors tonight. And tomorrow. And forever.

But he’s safe here, under the sun with Makoto, seemingly unaware of the passing time. He’s just staring at the grave marker. It’s quiet.

If this were a different situation, Yasuhiro would act like Mom, use his long arms to reel his friend in and give a speech about moving on and other women. But there are no other women like Kyoko Kirigiri on this planet, especially in Makoto Naegi’s world.

He remembers being locked out of the Future Foundation, frustrated and pounding at the door because he was the one at risk, and everyone else inside was supposed to be fine. He remembers crying over his broken crystal ball and wondering if Kanon would by him a new one. He remembers predicting a happy ending, of Naegi and Kirigiri holding hands, and the scratch of Asahina’s voice as she whispered of seeing Kirigiri without her gloves, and feels sick.

He predicted the wrong 30%.

There are no happy endings right now, just the sticky sweat rolling down his back in the heat and the realization that the world is not waiting for them to collect themselves before the next battle begins. He wonders if Naegi knows the work that awaits him when they go back, if he’s tempted to stay out here all day with Kirigiri, muttering apologies she doesn’t need (like they all fear), if he wants to grimace and briefly run away to Towa City like Yasuhiro, or if he’ll run forward like everyone else.

That’s not something he should ask but he doesn’t know what to ask or say but he needs to say something because the silence is going to drive them both crazy.

“Did you ever hear about that time Kirigiri fought half the 11th Division when Asahina and I started a fire?” Yasuhiro has no idea where that question came from but it’s one of his favorite stories, and if he’s going to talk, he might as well talk about her.

Makoto’s head snaps up. He gapes questioningly at Yasuhiro.

“Yeah, while you were traipsing across the globe looking for the remnants, we accidentally started a feud…” It’s precious to him and Asahina, a result of her first week in the 13th Division going so poorly.

As he tells the story, with bombastic hand motions, and dramatic body posing, the darkest shadows momentarily leave Naegi’s eyes in place of a fond smile he shoots towards the grave.

“And no one would dare look her in the eye for three weeks!” Makoto laughs at the finale, and Yasuhiro smiles in victory, launching into another tale.

* * *

Deep in the middle of the night, Toko slips out of bed with Komaru to hunt her brother down.

She isn’t sentimental enough to wander past Kirigiri’s bedroom in the sleeping quarters nearby or the offices she once ran, still populated with people working, reestablishing contact with other branches, updating paperwork, and any number of menial tasks. She’ll mourn in her own time, at nights the fights in Towa City are easy, or whenever she fears she’s seen Fuhito Kirigiri. Komaru will help her, and Toko will destroy Monokumas and save the city and think of how Kirigiri helped save them so many times. If she and Master have a bunch of daughters, she’ll name a talented one Kyoko and make the Naegis godparents.

Hidden in a corner of the cafeteria, Makoto Naegi sits with coffee and paperwork. If she removes her glasses and squints, Toko is almost transported back to Hope’s Peak, Makoto pretending to like coffee just to drink it with Kirigiri, waiting for her to meet with him. He probably has her favorite blend right now.

She sighs as she sits across from him but doesn’t snap at Makoto’s shocked, dismayed expression that he’s been found by her.

He quickly takes a sip of coffee and rushes out a grateful, “You know, I don’t think I ever thanked you for taking care of Komaru.”

Toko bristles and barely refrains from reaching across the table to smack him. Komaru is hers just as much as Komaru is his. Toko will fight to a violent, bloody death to protect her because Komaru deserves to be known as the kindest, hardest working, and most loving girl in the world, not just Makoto Naegi’s little sister. If someone wants to take Komaru, she will rip the heart from their chest for trying.

Instead, she swallows down that speech and ignores his comment.

“We’re going back to Towa City tomorrow.”

“I know. Like I’ve told you both, you don’t have to. You can stay here.” The _you (her) can stay safe_ goes unsaid.

“You’re an idiot. We’re needed in Towa City, especially now that annoying despair brat is gone. We have the chance to save it for good, to finish off the Monokumas. That’s more important than any Future Foundation trash assignments sent our way.” Makoto frowns but doesn’t disagree.

“Then what’s wrong?” He looks at her calmly.

“I’m doing this more for Komaru than you, so don’t get any ideas. She’s upset you’re upset and that’s not allowed. Look, about Kirigiri-” Makoto’s hands suddenly grip the table but she carries on, ignoring the sympathy that’s running in her veins, “Monaca Towa predicted you would get one of our classmates killed but she was wrong. You didn’t, so stop telling people it was your fault. Kirigiri chose to die, and if you ignore that sacrifice was a choice she made, I’ll kill you for her myself.”

Any healthy tan that Makoto may have received for standing in the sun with Hagakure a few days prior has instantly disappeared, leaving him wide-eyed, pale, and slack jawed.

“She was only in this game because of me.” Toko is trying very hard to ignore the tears prickling at the corners of Makoto’s eyes and realizes, in hindsight, Komaru could have been helpful in this conversation.

She tries again. “Look, this job sucks. We face danger every day, it’s a miracle more of us aren’t dead, and sometimes it feels like the fight against despair will never end. Kyoko Kirigiri knew that. She used to run towards dead bodies and sent men to their deaths against despair, but she never lost hope, because she had you. She didn’t just save your life because you cause the world hope. She made the choice to let you live because you caused her hope. Kirigiri could have let you die, just like in school-”

“Hey!”

“…but she didn’t because you were more important than her own life. Just like Asahina’s was to Ogami’s or your sister and Master are to me. When you love someone, you want them to live so stop saying you killed her. She died for you but she died because she wanted to, not because you pinned a bracelet on her wrist or stabbed her with a knife.”

Makoto opens his mouth but closes it with an audible click. He’s shaking and an occasional tear trips onto the table. Shit, she’s made the Ultimate Hope cry. Maybe she was too hard. No. He’s an idiot. Kirigiri would want her to do this.

“You probably won’t believe me yet, but you will. And if you forget what I said, come find us in Towa City. Komaru will hold onto you while I scream in your face.” Toko gets up to leave, but his hand on her sleeve momentarily stops her.

There’s no smile, but his wet eyes are open and looking directly at her.

“Thank you.”

* * *

Days turn to weeks turn to months turn to three months turn to six months.

It is an open secret that the entirety of Division 14 (and members of most other divisions) worry about Makoto Naegi. An insignificant and small minority of lingering, bitter members of Ruruka Ando’s failed coup or Sakakura’s forces view him with contempt and animosity, a ticking time bomb about to blow up the Future Foundation yet again. Munakata, largely uninvolved from Future Foundation as he recovers from the trauma of the Final Killing Game, keeps them in order and limits whatever power they feel entitled to. Some, paranoid after so many important deaths in such a small period of time, worry he’s at risk of being kidnapped or tortured and call for more protection, an argument Togami would be inclined to listen to if Makoto _ever_ left the main compound or an overseas branch. Many, including Makoto’s closest friends, agree he’s a time bomb, though for an entirely different reason.

There isn’t a member who hasn’t found him slumped over a desk, in a pool of files spilling across a table, or even on the floor, leaning against a shelf and gripping a book. He goes days without going home to rest, and two interns are specifically tasked with ‘You two! Keep Naegi fed and watered’ by a harried Togami. Past midnight, Makoto’s fielding calls from America and coordinating with international Future Foundation organizations until the sun peaks over the horizon. His paperwork is never late, and he’ll volunteer to take more on when there’s a lull in his speaking engagements.

He remains hopeful, which soothes most people. Many new branch heads are thrilled by ‘Naegi’s commitment to the cause’, his willingness to fly across the globe to speak with others or how he’ll drop everything to reassure the public or traumatized victims that hope will prevail. Munakata never mentions it on the rare occasions he is around, but he privately feels Makoto Naegi’s speeches, his hope, have only gotten stronger since Kirigiri’s death, even if his message hasn’t changed. Yet even the members most eager for progress are growing uneasy about the volume of work he completes.

An implosion will come, eventually, because it’s been half a year, and his face still shutters closed whenever Kyoko Kirigiri is brought up in front of him. He’s getting better at listening others speak, but he remains mute. Since the funeral, he no longer claims that he killed Kyoko, which Toko bitterly considers a victory in a lost war, but struggles more than anyone to talk about her. Asahina is best at letting everyone know how smart and amazing Kyoko was, followed by Hagakure, whose stories make Kyoko a mythical badass warrior to those who never met her. Even Togami doesn’t hesitate to use her name to inspire their division if he views they’ve been too lazy lately. Toko tells Towa City about her.

Makoto Naegi never says her name, and they don’t know what to do. What can they do? They can’t afford to force him to leave. Togami has tried; Makoto bothers other branches for work or goes overseas or steals a hacking gun and visits his sister the one time everyone agrees to give him a break. He’s the glue holding them all together, picking up pieces of the Future Foundation and seamlessly gluing them to the previous version and making it perfect, making it full of hope.

Hagakure openly wonders if Naegi is just slowly working his way through his grief. This is the only time they haven’t faced a new hell upon exiting the old one so he has the time to mourn. There are always purple flowers of Kirigiri’s grave, and everyone knows they come from Makoto. Isn’t being able to face her enough?

Toko says Hagakure is full of bullshit and being able to face a grave isn’t enough when Makoto would rather face a battlefield of Monokuma than his own thoughts.

Asahina worries he’s taking Kyoko’s dying wish to remain hopeful too far, and Togami agrees a speech from Kyoko would have inspired Makoto to work through anything.  

But there are things they don’t know, and it would alarm them to. He couldn’t sleep for the first two weeks because he borrowed her detergent to wash his sheets and the smell of it drove him to stay in his office. He hates having people on his right side because that was where she always was, by his right side, holding his hand, even though _he_ was supposed to be _her_ right hand man. There are days he wakes up, expecting to see her because he dreamed she was alive, and the crushing sorrow sometimes makes him loathe himself for not feeling guilty every moment of every day.

He's especially baffled by despair now, by the idea people could get addicted to this feeling and find it pleasurable. He’d give up anything to lessen the pressure.

He’d give up anything, including his own life, to bring her back.

Time passes.

* * *

There’s a lot to appreciate as a member of the 14th Division. She’s surrounded by the people she cares about most, she’s better suited to aid Makoto in public relations issues than her old job of helping determine resource distribution, and, although it’s painful, she likes being where Kyoko once was, with people who remember her and don’t judge if she’s sometimes sad when passing by Kyoko’s old office. Hina’s very grateful the Future Foundation transferred her.

There’s only one major downside: boat trips to Jaberwock Island with Makoto, and occasionally, Togami.

She understands the need to keep checking on the Remnants of Despair, likes being on the water, and can sympathize as a fellow victim of Junko Enoshima, but the island makes her skin crawl and triggers a survival instinct to flee. Even worse, it’s a permanent reminder that Kyoko is gone, because rationalizing with the Remnants and keeping Makoto out of trouble used to be her job.

Makoto never speaks about Kyoko on these trips, but sometimes he’ll stare at the sky and goes to say something to Hina before flinching and looking away. He always turns back to her with a smile a few seconds later, but its painfully obvious that, in those moments, he’s thought of something to tell Kyoko, and is forced to readjust again and again to a world when she isn’t by his side.

Hina ignores these instances as best she can but sometimes she wants to shake Makoto and tell him to cry with her, talk to Togami, let Hagakure distract him, or visit his sister and Toko, anything except quietly sequester his broken heart away from them.

She doesn’t though. Sakura and Yuuta taught her too many lessons about needing to grieve alone before Kyoko became another painful reminder.  

A broken warship of Munakata’s lingers off the coast of the central island. She spots the pink haired guy doing something on the deck but Makoto’s attention is on the dock, where that princess girl is walking away from Hajime Hinata. At least she thinks he’s Hajime Hinata. The personality waivers between him and Izuru Kamikura (another reason to miss Kyoko-how are they supposed to deal with that calmly?) but he’s been leaning more Hajime (helpful, kind, determined) than Izuru (provoking, prodding, dismissive) lately, so Hina’s grateful.

Of course, he raises an eyebrow and scoffs once they’re off the boat, so Hina takes back her kind thoughts. Makoto smiles at the jerk and greets him before moving to talk to the princess and a man with an eye patch where the dock meets the beach.

“Still Kirigiri’s replacement? A pity.”

Hina really hates this guy.

“How have you been doing Hinata? Any developments?”

“You’re dull.” He ignores her so seamlessly.

Hina’s not coming back to this island unless they buy her a donut store.

“It’s not surprising. Your organization meanders now with so little to oppose it. It’s probably a good thing the detective died before she became obsolete.”

There have been a handful of moments in Hina’s life where the sound and color momentarily fade from the world, and she is paralyzed. She feels her head turn, without permission, to Makoto, who hasn’t noticed the storm brewing behind his back. She remembers finding Sakura, hearing about Yuuta, seeing Kyoko on the ground. In every instance, she roars back to life with a singular purpose: destroy.

“Listen up, you scrawny hope reject!” Makoto turns to her. Hinata’s two companions sigh and look at her and Makoto apologetically.

“Kyoko Kirigiri is one of the only reasons you’re alive right now because you sure weren’t saving yourself from the Neo World Program. She died for hope and to help fix the world you helped destroy, a world you’ve done very little to fix so don’t tell us the Future Foundation isn’t helpful either. Kyoko was the definition of strong, kind, loyal, and smart. She was my friend, and I miss her every day, so if you ever tell me her death was a blessing, I’ll bury your body in the sand and make sure it’s the last thing you say!”

She takes a breath and prepares another series of truth bullets to knock this guy out, but Makoto gently grabs her by the shoulder and tugs her back to the boat. Hinata looks more curious than alarmed.

He calls out to the small crowd of five that have gathered on the dock, “Sorry to cut this short. We’ll visit next week.”

A dark skinned woman calls out with a grin, as Hina gets shoved up the steps to the boat, “Bring the chick! She’s fun!”

"What was that?" Makoto asks her, confused and alarmed. 

“You’re not the only one that misses her.” It comes out an odd mix of regretful, sad, and a touch petulant. 

He stares at her, fists still clenched and frustration radiating and nods.

"You're right. I forget that sometimes, but you're right." The next thing Hina knows, there are tears in the corners of his eyes and tears pooling down her cheeks, and she hasn't felt so relieved in months. 

At least he's still there to listen to them. 

At least they can sometimes miss her together. Maybe that can become enough. 

* * *

Komaru likes the Future Foundation just fine, but, don’t tell Makoto, she’s grown accustomed to Towa City and doesn’t want to leave it. The buildings are monstrosities, the amenities all encompassing. Adults are figuring out a fragile balance between forgiving children and holding Monaca Towa and the Towa family culpable. Haiji is still hiding somewhere, but in a run-in with Kotoko, he told her she’d be of interest if she were sweeter, so Nagisa _might_ have successfully put a hit on him. It’s not an event she wants to spend time considering. She and the Warriors of Hope are working well together, now that Monaca is gone and they’re growing up, but they still keep their secrets, especially when it comes to protecting one another from abuse. Toko drily offered to help kill Haiji, but Komaru knows she was kidding. No more killing Toko, right?

A few different branches, including her brother’s, have been attempting to recruit the two of them, so they tell the city to keep itself calm for a few days and make the trek to Future Foundation Headquarters. A snide comment about venturing into hell is all the protest Toko offers.

She hasn’t seen Makoto in three months, though they talk a few times a week. When he isn’t flying across the world, Makoto is now their direct contact with Future Foundation, to the relief of Togami and the dismay of Toko, who only puts up a fight when they’ve had good days and Komaru doesn’t necessarily need Makoto’s love or support.

Even with his participation in multiple Killing Games, Komaru has never been so worried about Makoto as in these eight months. She never got to meet Kyoko Kirigiri, but she must have been amazing to have caused Makoto, the Ultimate Hope who always keeps their spirits up, to feel so heartbroken. She selfishly wishes the Tragedy never touched her family, that she could have met Kirigiri when Makoto brought her home to meet Mom and Dad or if she traveled to Hope’s Peak to see him.

For the past half a year, when it’s late, and the city is too noisy outside, or not noisy enough, Komaru begs for stories of Kirigiri. Initially, Toko sighed and said to ask Makoto, but both quickly realized the details weren’t forthcoming.

“If nothing else, she was smart. Dumb for your brother, dumb when it came to him, but smart in every other way imaginable.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, she was the Ultimate Detective, and basically solved all the cases at Hope’s Peak singlehandedly. She didn’t jump to conclusions, and everyone else was an idiot, so I appreciate that now. Even in a time crunch, she was great at sifting through information, and her observational skills were second to none.”

“Then how was she dumb?”

“She and your brother didn’t understand how much the other cared, and now she’s dead. Go to sleep,” Toko replied and groaned softly, turning over in bed.

Komaru knows she misses Kirigiri too and worries about Makoto so she simply replies goodnight and lays back down.

They occasionally have conversations like that. Komaru knows she wore purple and had burned hands, that she was very secretive and surprisingly harsh when the situation called for it. Toko never saw her livider than when Makoto was the one lying to her.

The picture Toko paints of Kyoko Kirigiri with her words is sometimes funny, occasionally angry, but usually poignant and pained, especially if Makoto becomes the topic of conversation.

Makoto has never offered details himself, until this latest journey to the Future Foundation. Toko is bothering Togami so the two of them eat dinner alone. He bursts out laughing when she slurps noodles from a Styrofoam cup and tells her how Kirigiri saved his life, with a noddle cup for a halo and trash bags for angel wings.

He stops laughing soon and looks down at his dinner. Komaru does what comes naturally and launches herself against his side, wrapping her arms around him and squeezing tightly.

Face pressed against his shoulder, she finally asks if Toko was telling her the truth. “Did you love Kirigiri?”

Arms squeeze her back, and she can feel him nod, muffle a sigh against her hair.

_(In future weeks, she’ll call him to talk about Towa City and Toko and he’ll share details about Asahina and Hagakure’s continued rivalry with the 11 th Division, of the people he meets, and sometimes, even without her prompting, he’ll speak of Kyoko with her and Toko, of her smile or the way she hated rock music. He can be sad during these conversations but he’s talking to them, and she’s grateful and loves him so much.)_

* * *

The sun set half an hour earlier.

Makoto has just left his office when Toko rushes off the elevator and barges into a meeting room a few doors down from him.

“THE NINTH DIVISION! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS? WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” Toko’s shrieks can be heard through the walls, down the halls, and likely on a different floor.  It’s been a record two days they’ve been at the Future Foundation without incident, though the dream of three days is now dead.

Makoto’s not thrilled Komaru won’t be joining him and his friends, but he respects her independence and is mainly relieved she decided her honed battle skills were better served outside the 6th Division’s riot suppression group.

“WE HAVE THE CHANCE TO STAY WITH MASTER BYAKUYA AND YOUR BROTHER AND YOU SEND US TO THE WEAPON MANUFACTURERS?” The screaming is getting louder.

“Wait, us? Toko, you can stay here, it’s okay. I’m going to work out of Towa City and you know how much safer it is.” Makoto can envision Komaru now, head tilted to the side and arms waving, trying to placate her partner.

“NO I CAN’T! I’M COMING WITH YOU! YOU’LL DIE WITHOUT ME!” Toko’s loyalty to Komaru, initially baffling, is one of Makoto’s greatest comforts. They’d both die for her without question and would do anything to keep her safe.

“Really Toki? Thank you!”

“AHHHH!”

Makoto laughs and walks in the opposite direction. It’s getting late. He needs to eat dinner with Asahina, Togami, and Hagakure, take a shower, and sleep. He’s hopeful his dreams will be kind and that his pillowcases won’t be a problem. Kyoko would be proud.

When Makoto awakens the next morning, fine, he thinks of Kyoko’s smile and is ready to start the day.

* * *

_I think you’re strong; you can push through this intact. Resilience is a rare quality in people. I sense it in you._

**Author's Note:**

> The opening/closing quotes come from the DanganRonpa anime. Makoto is the first speaker and Kyoko the second. 
> 
> Initially, I planned a short, 1.5k max Makoto fic. We got this instead. Sorry. 
> 
> Toko became the 'boy, please' character somehow. I rationalize it as a loyalty to the only other woman crazy enough to keep a Naegi alive. She was also desperate to find out which of her friends would die so she could warn them, and I think Komaru has made her appreciate friendship more. 
> 
> I kept the ramifications/details of the killing game pretty sparse. I assume Munakata and Ryota are going to live and Ryota is somehow involved as a bad guy. 
> 
> I also kept the Jaberwock Island kids on the road to recovery but Izuru/Hinata is still struggling to be a good guy. I like Hajime but all we’ve gotten so far is dull/boring and I needed a villain so uh, sorry Hajime fans?
> 
> I’m still pissed she died, I had a whole in-canon fic planned for Nagisa joining Future Foundation and latching onto Kyoko like a baby ducking for like a decade of his life. He tries to fight Ruruka Ando in her honor. Some minor plot points/headcanons I had for it made their way into this. 
> 
> Finally, I apologize if the odd choices of names bother people. I've been watching DR3 and tried to keep with how they address each other but sometimes I defaulted to the video game version. This was so rushed. 
> 
> I'm thissupposedcrime on tumblr. Come talk to me about this show; we can cry together.


End file.
